Radiator fuel control



w H415 40 I E? I 1: F #241 i C) 1Z6 f Jan. 6, 1931. G. c. CARNAHAN 8 RADIATOR FUEL CONTROL Filed Dec- 15, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 6, 1931. G. c. CARNAHAN I RADIATOR FUEL CONTROL 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Dec. 1:5, 1929 [Eh K12 2? I Mm agww /zmg in a as-fired steamradiator. p

Ra 'ators of this class comprise generally a hollow shell having awater space in the upper portion thereof and a burner space Patented 6, 1931- UNITED STATES; PATENT OFFICE emu G. 0mm, or cnrca'eo, ILLmoIs, .essrenon. r0 JAMES 3. crew a sons, or cmcneo, rumors, A conronA'rroN-or m nors mm'ron FUEL common Application filed December 13, 1929, Serial No. 413,806.

This invention relates to heaters of the type that generally employ a fluid fuel,- such as a liquid or gas, ascontrasted with a solid fuel, and is illustrated hereinas embodied inthe lower portion thereof. Upon ignition of the fuel at the burner, heat is imparted to the portlon of the radiator containing water= thereby v.transformingwhe latter into steam and imparting heat to the space surrounding the radiator. It sometimes happens that the steam' pressure'in the radiator would become unduly high if it were not i equipped with a device to regulate the flow of fuel to an amount that willjust maintain a desirable steam pressure once'it is attained. With this in view radiators long in use have been equipped with a valve for controlling the admission of fuel to the burner and. the action 'of the valve has been governed. byvariations occurring in the steam pressure 'within the-radiator- Fuel controls of this character are insuccessful use today, but

like all other devices of their kind they are vantageous tendencies of the present day rasubject to beneficial improvement.

' To illustrate the demand" for an improved control, it is necessary only to recite a cer-,

tain condition that may arise in the use of a gas-fired steam radiator and which may' operate harmfully in spite of' the pressure controlled valve, now in use. If" the fuel at .theburner' of a cold radiator containing no. water is ignited, the flame will in time cause the metallics'hell of the radiator t o becomehighly over-heated in the absence of water;-

as no steam pressure can be generated which normally would regulate the supply of fuel. Therefore the dry radiator will become hot-- ter and hotter until harmful and sometimes disastrous results take place. 1

With the foregoing in view it is an object of the present invention to provide a radiator steam pressure and which w! trated embodiment of the invention the radiator is provided with a fuel supply line and a valve is interposed in the line forcontrolling the passage of fuel therethrough. In accordance with the present inventiona thermostatic element is extended into the radiator and is operatively connected with the valve in such a manner that upon the temperaturein the radiator rising to a certain point, in the absence of water andsteam pressure the thermostatic element will expand sufficiently to partially close the Valve and thereby regulate the fuel supply to the radiator and prevent the radiator from overheating in the absence of water for steam generating purposes. Another equally important feature of the present invention consists in combining ef- I ficiently and simply,- in" asingle' structure, a

means responsiveboth 'tovariations in tern-- perature and pressure'within' the-radiator for controlling the admission of fuel thereto. B means of sucha provision the fuel contro ing valve operates when either the temperature-or the pressure within the radiator reaches the desiredp0i'nt,' and thereby guards against the outstanding disaddiator to overheat when no water is contained therein, which can be enerated into I operate the valve controlling the fuel.

Other important objectsand'features nf the,. '-inven tion will become apparent fIOn'I-Q reading of the following specification in the light of accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. '1 is a rear elevational view of the end portion of' a gas-fired steam radiator equipped'in accordance with the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a right end view of the radiator illustrated in Fig. 1,

Fi -3 is a detailed vise-a... fuel control evice,

Fig.- 4 is a. sectional view taken alien the line 4--4 of Fig. 3, g

Fig.5 is a detailed view. of a portion; of the device illustrated inFig. 3,

ing of the control device,

Fig. 6 is a detailed view of the outside cas- I element bore directl Fig. 7 is an outside view of a portion of the apparatus in the burner chamber, is ignited and the heat therefrom converts into steam the water that is located in the upper portion of the radiator. As heretofore pointed out, it occasionally happens that the water becomes too low and the metallic shell of the radiator may be unduly heated. To overcome this disadvantage the present invention contemplates equipping the radiator with a fuel control device which will now be described.

Fuel flowing to the radiator passes through a supply or entrance conduit composed of the pipe sections 22 and 24. As shown in Fig.

3, the( fuel leaves the open end of the entrance passageway 24 (the latter terminates in a nozzle portion 26), and enters a chamber formed by a hollow cup-shaped shell 28 and a base 30. Leading from the shell 28 is an exit passageway or conduit 32 which communicates through an air-mixing-valve 34 with the burner 20.. Under ordinary conditions fuel flowing through the supply conduit 24 enters the chamber defined by the shell 28 and base 30 and thence flows to the burner directly, throughthe exit passageway .32. The chamber defined by the members 28- and 30, is provided with a central partition or valve 36, consisting. of a plurality ofthin 'and flexible concave-convex disks. Normally the disks occupy the position illustrated in Fig. 3 in which the open end of the supply passageway 24 and nozzle. 26 is disposed in spaced relationship to the valve, thereby permitting the incomin fuel to flow from the nozzle 26 through t e exit passageway 32.-

The valve is arranged, however, to be actuated upon by fluctuations in steam pressure of predetermined magnitude occurring in the water chamber of the rad ator. Toprovide for regulation in the absence of water and steam pressure a hollow sleeve 38 extends rearwardly from the base member 30 and con- 38 and the element 40, the latter will expand more rapidly than the casing, causing the inner end of the thermostatic element 40 to move in the direction of the valve 36. It will be appreciated that if the thermostatic u on the rear surface of the valve a consi era le amount 'o'f-move= ment would be requiredto move the valve from an open to a closed position. In order passagewa to decrease the amount of movement necessary to perform this operation there is interposed between the valve and the inner end of the thermostatic element 40, a cup-shaped plunger42 having an outer circular rim portion 44 adapted to engage the marginal portion of the plurality of thin and flexible concave-convex'valve disks 36 and a seat 46 arranged to be engaged by the inner end of the thermostatic element. The amount of movement required to close the valve through the arrangement just described is far less than that which would otherwise be required and thus the efficiency of the device is enhanced and assured.

From so much of the description as has already been given it will be understood that in the operation of the radiator the control device bein disposed in the water or steam chamber of the radiator will be exposed to variations in temperature occurring therein in the absence of Water in the radiator with the result that when a predetermined degree of temperature is reached the thermostatic element 40 will expand sufficiently, to move the plunger 42 in the direction of the valves 36, to close-the latter. Itwould be undesirable if the movement of the valve 36 to a closed position completely cut off the fuel supply and extinguished the flame, because later, upon cooling, the thermostat would once more contract and allow the concavoa small central passageway therethrough.

From an inspection of this gure in connection with Fig. 3 it will be seen that when the valve occupies a closed position. enough of the fuel may flow from the entrance passageway 24 through the'plug 48 to the exit passageway 32 to insure against the burner being extinguished.

It has heretofore been stated that the present invention aims to combine with the means for controlling, through variations occurring .in steam pressure within the radiator, the entrance of fuel to the radiator, an additional means for governing thermostatically the ad mission of fuel. q

To permit steam pressure to actuate the valve, the base section 30 of the valve chamber is provided with a passa eway 50 (Fig. 4) leading into the interior of t e radiator. This is formed in a screw-threaded plug 52 w ich serves to hold the control deture which will cause the valve 36 to seat itself and the supply of fuel to be diminished.

Turning now to Fig. 8, there is shown a somewhat modified type of structure in which the thermostatic element 40 takes the form of a bimetallic disk which, upon being heated, flattens out and presses, by means of a button 54, the .valve 36 into engagement with the open end of the entrance passageway 24., in exactly the same manner that has hereinbefore been described with reference to the earlier figures.

lt is to be understood that, although this invention has been illustrated and described in connectionwith a gas-fired steam radiator (shown in-the drawings as a vented radiator) the invention may be employed with equal feasibility and success in connection with. heaters of different kinds andv types, and. is. not to be limited to the style of heater illustrated. Furthermore it is-to be understood that changes and modifications in design and construction may from time to time be made by those skilled in the arts without departing in the slightest from the true scope,

of the invention as set'forth in the appended c aims. As an example of such a modification, the range of movement of the valve 36 may be so increased that it will vary the incoming supply of fuel upon any desired degree of change of temperature pressure conditions within the radiator, thereby providing a precise and delicate control.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure'by'. Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A radiator of the class described, having, in combination, a burner, a conduit for supplying fuel to the burner, avvalve in the conduit for governing the amount of fuel supplied, a thermostatic element associated with the valve and adapted to be acted upon by heat variations within the radiator to control the operation of a valve, and a passageway leading from the valve chamber into the interior of the radiator whereby pressure variations within the 'radiator are transmitted to the valve, y f

2. A heater of the class described, comprising, in combination, a burner, a conduit for supplying fuel to the burner, a valve for governing the passage of fuel through the conduit, a thermostatic element associated with I the radiator and adapted to close the valve when a predetermined degree of heat is generated within the radiator, a passageway leading into the valve chamber forcommunieating to the valve pressure variations occurring in the radiator, and means for by-passing a small amount of fuel around the valve when the latter is closed whereby extinguishment of the burner is prevente 3. A device for controlling the fuel supply in radiators and the like comprising, in combination, a fuel entrance passageway, a fuel exit passageway, a flexible diaphragm mem-, ber normally disposed in spaced relationship to the open end of one of the passageways and pressure in the radiator to close the open end of said passageway. v

4:. A device for controlling the fuel supply in radiators and the like comprising, in combination, a fuel entrance passageway, a fuel, exit passageway a concavo-convex flexible diaphragm member normally disposed in spaced relationship to the open end of one of said passageways,andmeans for contracting the diaphragm into a position closing the open end of said passageway, said -means comprising an expansible bar and a cupshaped member adapted to be moved upon expansion of the bar; the cup-shaped member aving a rim for-engaging the marginal portion of the diaphragm, and a seat to be engaged by the expansible bar.

5. A radiator of the class described, having,in combination,- a burner, a conduit for supplying fuel to the burner, and a valve interposed within the conduit for governing the amount of fuel delivered to the radiator, said valve comprising, a casing, and control changes in temperature and pressure within the radiator. 1

6. A radiator of the class'described, comrising, in combination, a burner, a conduit or supplying fuel to the burner, and control meansfor governing the amount of fuel delivered to the burner through. the supply conduit, said control means being responsiveto and responsive to variations in temperature 05 means w1th1n the casing responslve to l I 

